You might want to take a look at this: jonathanhaidt.com/anxious-generation/
On the one hand, the grumpy old man in me agrees completely.
On the other, they’ve been saying this for all of history, since that new-fangled writing wreaked havoc on our ancestors’ children’s memories. And it did in fact do that, but we changed.
Attention span is just going to become vestigial in the general population as it becomes less necessary in an evolving technological and sociological environment, just like memory and penmanship.
mortalglowworm@reddthat.com 3 weeks ago
ikka@lemmy.sdf.org 3 weeks ago
I’m sorry but not going to trust an author who has a very real financial incentive to sell a hypothesis. There are indeed numerous studies that do summarize the impacts of social media and smartphones on mental health, and it’s also extremely true that the increase in mental health diagnosis can also, at least partially, be attributed to an increase in mental health awareness. My ADHD existed well before I got my hands on tech.
mortalglowworm@reddthat.com 2 weeks ago
I hear you. Not everything is because of the smart phones and social media. And I agree that awareness is increasing the diagnosis numbers.
I would be sceptical if I didn’t know of this random author as well. But look into him, at least check his Wikipedia article. Maybe see his TED talk. Read a couple interviews. Don’t accept my recommendation at face value.
There are a lot of people out there trying to make us feel lacking so they can sell something. But I don’t think Haidt is one of those people.
I learned a thing or two from his material. Your mileage might vary, obviously.
GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Shame. He’s a very good author
pandapoo@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Yeah it’s not really up for debate, the science is only growing more conclusive on how smartphones negatively impact a developing braind, especially with social media.
Also, attention span is not vestigial… It’s pretty important, and can’t be replaced by technology…but I was more referring to anxiety and depression disorders, which again, are on the rise.
I’m also kind of confused why you included penmanship in there, as that is not something a child’s development requires to be healthy. It’s simply a skill, and one that has been replaced by typing, almost 1:1.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Once upon a time people argued penmanship was crucial to building a well developed brain. Same with memorizing epics by rote. Books were actually considered bad for students because they would become dull and lazy if they did not commit all their knowledge to memory.
But memory can largely be replaced by technology, and that enables access to more knowledge than one person could ever memorize. Who knows how society will develop, for better or worse.
yetiftw@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
yes but in order to effectively use technology to replace memory you still have to commit things to memory. if I don’t know something exists then how can I Google it?
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 3 weeks ago
Attention isn’t eliminated by smartphones, just shortened